ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Ron Jaworski talks Bucs football

December 8, 2008|By Chris Harry, Sentinel Staff Writer

ESPN color analyst Ron Jaworski, who will be in the booth for tonight's Bucs-Panthers matchup with fellow Monday Night Football fixtures Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser, watches more video than any football talking head in the business. The Sentinel's Chris Harry spoke via phone with the man they call Jaws last week and here are some excerpts:

Q: Is this the typical Tampa Bay team the NFL has come to know over the last decade or so?

A: It does remind me of their Super Bowl team; and that was a world championship team. What really is the constant is the defense. It's a very disciplined defense. You have to earn everything against them. Since the bye week, I've seen great energy. They seem to be playing faster. Offensively, it's a mundane group that's very similar to the Brad Johnson-led offense -- not a lot of dimensions to it -- but they make enough plays to beat you. I'm particularly impressed with what they've been able to do with such a depleted situation at running back.

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Q: The names change, the statistics don't. How does defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin keep getting such high-level performance from his "Tampa 2" system?

A: You hear so much about that Tampa 2, but I just watched their last four games and they played a Tampa 2 shell maybe about 20 percent of the time. It's more of a single high safety than a base Tampa 2. . . . The key, though, is discipline. All 11 guys understand their roles and trust each other and understand they're each just one piece to an 11-man puzzle.

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Q: Jon Gruden was known as an offensive mastermind in Oakland, but his offenses in Tampa have been statistically well below-average. What's the reality of Gruden as an offensive coordinator?

A: Last time I checked I didn't see Jerry Rice or Tim Brown in his huddle these days. Mike Martz was a genius with the Rams, too. It really does boil down to talent. The Bucs have a very average receiving corps, at best. With Joey Galloway in his aging years, injuries wearing him down, it's just a receiving corps that does not strike fear in anybody. That means the offense is going to have to manufacture two or three big plays a game with the deep crossing route, clearing routes and the deep crossing underneath routes that Jon designs so well.

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Q: What do you think of Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia?

A: I say this in a kidding way: he drives me crazy. Plug in tape and look at him. Some things he does, there's just no rhyme or reason for. The play might be there, but for whatever reason he keeps moving. The feet never stop. He's hyperactive, kinetic. But you know what? He'll run out of the pocket and throw it 40 yards downfield for a completion. There's no question, he's fun to watch. But for someone like myself, who enjoys the discipline of the position -- I'll just say -- he's very unique. You can't deny he makes plays on the field, though.

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Q: What's it been like working alongside Tony Kornheiser?

A: Oh my God, it's an absolute pleasure working with him. To be honest, I had some trepidation about it at first. I'm a glass-is-half-full guy. He's a glass-is-half-empty guy. I see inside-out. He sees outside-in. But he has made me better. He does his homework. He questions me. And the fact he's a reporter has rubbed off on me and made me a better football reporter.